This disclosure relates to automated methods and systems that capture images. The methods and systems described below may capture images, process the images, and use the information gathered from the processed images to determine certain information about the images. For example, the images may be of property damage, and the system may verify whether the property has been damaged by weather incidents. The verification may be used for purposes such as automated property damage claim verification.
Today, when an owner of a building or other structure experiences property damage resulting from an incident such as hail, wind, lightning, vandalism, or other activity, several steps must occur to remediate the damage. In some situations, the property owner may need to ask a construction contractor to assess the damage in order to determine what is needed to fix the property. In other situations, the property owner may need to submit a claim to its property insurer.
In either situation, it is often desirable to capture images of the damage to assist the contractor or property insurer in assessing the claim. However, current methods of capturing images for property damage assessment are costly and time consuming. Manual collection of images is time-consuming, and the demand for manual inspection can exceed the capacity of a workforce after storm events where damage is widespread. In addition, images captured manually may not be of sufficient quality for proper assessment of the claim or repairs. For example, because many of the captured images may be out of focus, extra photos must be taken, and a return visit to the property may be required.
This document describes devices and methods that are intended to address issues discussed above and/or other issues.